Vapor-burner.



A (L E. ERICHSEN. 1

VAPOR BURNBB. APPLIOATIONI'ILED MAY 31, 1910- 1,1 30,501 Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

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ATTORNEY.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO" PHOTO-THE. WASHINGTON. D C

A. G. E. BRIGHSEN.

VAPOR BURNER. APPLICATION FILED MAY- 31. 1910.

PatentedMar. 2, 1915.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT @FFTCE.

ADOLPH C. E. ERICI-ISEN', OF CRANS'ION, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 GORI-IAM MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A GORBORATION 0F RHODE ISLAND.

VAPOR-BURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application filed May 31, 1910. Serial N 0. 564,043.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLPH C. E. Enron- SEN, a citizen of the United States, of Granston, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vapor-Burners; and I do hereby declare the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The invention relates to lamps or burners adapted for burning the vapor of alcohol or other liquid, such as are commonly employed in connection with chafing dishes and the like. I

One feature of the invention consists in a novel construction of burner, whereby a practically continuous body of flame of relatively large area is produced.

A further feature of invention consists in the construction, with a burner, of novel means for regulating or extinguishing the flame as desired.

The invention further consists in certain combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of aburner or lamp embodying my invention, the means for cutting off the flame being shown as partially closed. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section on the line m-w, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view with the top ring removed and showing the means for cutting off the flame fully open. Fig. 5 is a corresponding view, but showing the means for cutting off the flame fully closed. Fig. 6 is a plan view and Fig. 7 an edge view of one of the blades or wings constituting the flame-regulating or cutting-off means.

1 represents the casing of the burner or lamp, such casing being shown of a suitable shape and construction to be inserted and held in the receptacle provided therefor, in a chafing dish for example.

Located centrally within the casing 1 and preferably secured to the bottom thereof, as by solder, is a cylindrical liquid fuel-receptacle 2. Said receptacle is provided with a closed top 3 and is provided at the bottom with the opening 4 for the passage of the liquid. The casing 1 is preferably provided upon the bottom with an upwardly projecting annular head or flange 2- within which the liquid receptacle 2 will fit, said head thus constituting a guide for centrally locating said liquid receptacle preparatory to securing the same in place. A feed-tube 5 extends from the side of the receptacle 2 near the top to the exterior of the casing- 1 and is provided at the outer end with a suitable cap 6 for closing the same.

Secured to the inner wall of the casing near thetop thereof is an inwardly extending annular flange 7 provided "with a central opening 8 overwhich is secured a circular piece of wire mesh or gauze 9 having a central aperture or opening 10. A vent tube 11 extends from the feed-tube 5 and has its open free end underlying the gauze 9. The space around and above the receptacle 2 is packed with asbestos 12. as shown in Fig. 3. A portion of the asbestos is arranged'to project through the aperture 10 and constitute a wick 13.

The casing 1 is provided with a series of holes 14 arranged around said casing and communicating with the interior thereof just above the annular flange 7, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These holes 14 provide for a circulation of cold air above the annular flange 7 and gauze 9, thereby furnishing a supply of oxygen at a convenient point and in a desirable direction to support combustion and at the same time serve to prevent the various parts of the burner from becoming unduly heated.

With this construction of burner the operation is as follows; The burner is filled by pouring the alcohol or other liquid fuel to be vaporized through the feed-tube 5. A certain amount of the alcohol passes through the openings 4 and is absorbed by the asbestos 12, and so that when the wick 13 is lighted, the asbestos located beneath the gauze 9 will also become lighted, thereby producing a continuous body of flame at the top of the burner. The heat thereby generated will serve to heat up the body of liquid within the receptacle 2 and so as to gradually vaporize the same. If no means were provided to prevent it, the pressure thereby developed in said receptacle 2 would force out an undue and obj ectionable amount of the liquid through the openings a and through the asbestos and which would be likely to be discharged upon the parts of the structure outside of the burner proper and be there ignited. By providing the vent tube 11, however, any pressure developed in the receptacle 2 by the heating up of the liquid and the formation of vapor or gas therein will be immediately relieved, and such vapor or gas escaping through said vent tube will be conveyed to and delivered at a point directly below the gauze 9, where it will unite with the vapor there formed and thus be ignited at point within the area of the burner. There will thus be pro duced at the burner a continuous body of flame which, when unrestrained or unconfined, will be of relatively large area, and this body of flame will be continuously and effectively maintained. The means for regulating the size of this flame, or for extinguishing it altogether, will neXt be described. Such means embodies a series of overlapping blades or wings 15, the position of which is controlled by an actuating ring 16 provided with a projecting operating handle 17. Mounted in the top of the casing 1 and resting upon an annular flange 18 is a stationary ring 19, which is provided with a pin 20 arranged to engage a corresponding hole in th flange 18 and which thereby serves to hold said ring 19 against rotation. The ring 19 is also provided with a series of holes 21 corresponding in number with the number of blades 15, and each of said blades 15 is provided at one end with a projecting pin 22 adapted to enter one of said holes 21. The actuating ring 16 is provided with a series of radial slots 23 likewise corresponding in number with the number of blades 15, and each of said blades is also provided with a second projecting pin 2%, at the opposite end and upon the opposite face of the blade 15 from the projecting pin 22, said pin 24 being adapted to engage one of said slots 23. As shown in Fig. 3 the blades 15 lie above and rest upon the ring 19, while the actuating ring 16 lies above the blades 15, and with this arrangement of parts the pins 22 on said blades 15 project downward to engage the holes in the ring 19, while the pins 241 project upward to engage the slots 23 in the actuating ring 16.

Secured atthe top of the casing 1 and above the actuating ring 16 is a cover-ring 25. As shown in Fig. 3, the outer edge of the actuating ring is provided with an upturned flange 26, while the inner edge of the cover-ring 25 is likewise provided with a downturned flange 27, thereby providing space to receive the upper ends of the projecting pins 2 1. In the construction shown the cover-ring 25 is held in place by turning over the upper edge 28 of the casing 1, as shown in Fig. 3. The operating handle 17 is secured to the inner edge of a projection 29 on the actuating ring 16 and is ofi'set or bent upward and then outward over the cover-ring 25, as shown in Fig. 8. Said handle 17 is preferably provided with a lip adapted to engage a projecting flange 31 at the top of the casing 1 to serve as a guide and prevent the handle from being bent.

The operation of the means above de scribed for regulating or extinguishing the fiame is a follows: When the handle 17 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the blades 15 will all be drawn to their outward position with their outer edges against the inner wall of the casing 1 and will lie wholly below and outside of the inner periphery of the cover-ring 25, and so as to thereby leave a circular opening for the flame of the full size of the central opening in said cover-ring. When now the handle 17 is moved from the position shown in Fi 1 toward the position shown in Fig. 5, the turning of the actuating ring 16 thereby effected will cause the pins 24 to be moved inward in the radial slots 23, thereby moving that end of each blade inward. The engagement of the pins 22 with the holes in the underlying ring 19, which ring is held against rotation, serves to hold that end of each of the blades against inward movement, said pins 22 thus constituting pivot-pins for the blades as said blades are turned inward by theinovement of the actuating ring above described. As the blades are thus moved or turned inward they serve to gradually reduce the size or diameter of the circular central opening for the flame. Thus a partial movement of the operating handle, as for example, to the position shown in Fig. 1, will serve to bring the blades into the position shown in said figure, in which position the size of the central circular opening, and consequently the size of the flame, will be correspondingly reduced. Asthe operating handle continues to be moved in the direction referred to the size of the central opening will continue to be gradually decreased, until finally the blades will. be brought into the position shown in Fig. 5, in which position of the blades the central opening will be entirely closed, as shown in said figure, and the flame consequently extinguished. A move ment of the operating handle in the opposite direction will serve to move or turn the blades outward, thereby first producing a circular central opening and then gradually increasing the size or diameter of such opening.

As will be seen, when the operating handle is in one extreme position, the circular central opening for the flame, and when the lamp is lighted the flame itself, will be of the full size of the central opening of the cover-ring 25, while when the handle is in its other extreme position the central opening will be entirely closed and the flame extinguished. So also, it will be seen that with the operating handle in any intermediate position a turning of said handle in one direction will serve to increase the size of the central opening, while a turning of said handle in an opposite direction will serve to decrease the size of such opening, and so that by turning said handle in one direction or the other the size of the flame will be regulated or controlled. It will be further seen that with the blades fully open the opening for the flame will be a circular opening of the full size of the central opening in the cover-ring 25 and the flame will consequently be a circular flame, and when the lamp or burner is constructed as above described, this circular flame will be continuous throughout the opening therefor. So also as the blades are moved inward to reduce the size of the opening and of the flame, said opening, and consequently the flame, will always remain of a circular form throughout the entire inward movement of the blades and until such opening is entirely closed. In other words, the inward or outward movement of the blades does not change the form of the central opening, but merely serves to increase or decrease the size or diameter of such opening, as the case may be. Thus, while the size of the flame may be varied or regulated, the flame will always be of circular form and be continuous throughout the area of the opening, whatever such area may be. Moreover, the flame, whatever its size or diameter, will always be centrally located.

While the construction of burner above described, whereby a continuous body of flame of a relatively large area is produced, and the means above described for regulating or controlling the size of such flame, may, if desired, be independently employed, that is, such construction of burner may be employed in connection with some other means for controlling or regulating the size of the flame, or, on the other hand, such regulating and controlling means may be employed in connection with some other construction of burner, the combination of these two features and the cooperation of the one with the other is productive of novel and peculiar advantageous results. Thus with the construction of burner above described a circular flame of large area is produced, and which flame is continuous throughout such large area, thus not only providing a large body of heat, but also causing the same to be applied to a relatively large area of the vessel or other article to be heated, while with the regulating and controlling means employed in combination with such burner, this relatively large circular flame may be gradually reduced in size, or when so reduced may again be gradually increased in size, but always and in all cases retaining its circular form and its central location.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

V l. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel receptacle within said casing having a closed top and an opening at the lower end communicating with said casing, and a quantity of asbestos located. around said receptacle, and above the closed top thereof.

2. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel receptacle within said casing having a closed top and an opening at the lower end communicating with said casing, a quantity of asbestos located around said receptacle, and above the closed top thereof,

and a section of wire gauze overlying said asbestos.

3. A vapor burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel receptacle within said casing, said receptacle having a closed top andan opening at the'lower end, a feed-tube extending from the exterior of said easing into said receptacle, and a vapor outlet from said receptacle.

4. A vapor burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel receptacle within said casing provided with a closed top and a series of openings in the lower end thereof, a feed-tube extending. from the exterior of said casing into said receptacle at the side thereof, and a vapor outlet from said receptacle.

5. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel-receptacle secured to the bottom of said casing and provided with a closed top and with a series of openings at its lower end, a feed-tube extending from the.

exterior of said casing into said receptacle, a quantity of asbestos in said casing surrounding said receptacle, and a section of wire-gauze overlying said asbestos.

6. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel-receptacle secured to the bottom of said casing and provided with a closed top and with a series of openings at its lower 7 end, a feed-tube extending from the exterior of said casing into said receptacle, a quantity of asbestos in the casing surrounding said receptacle, and a section of wire-gauze overlying such asbestos, said wire-gauze being provided with a central opening through which the asbestos may project to constitute a wick.

7. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel-receptacle having a closed top in said casing, an annular flange upon the interior of said casing located above the closed top of the fuel receptacle and provided with a central opening, a section of wire-gauze supported by said annular flange and overlying. the central opening therein, and a cover-ring provided with a circular opening above said gauze.

8. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a

liquid fuel-receptacle Within said casing, said receptacle having a closed top and an opening at its loWer end, and a vent-tube leading from said receptacle outside of said closed top.

9. A vapor-burner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel-receptacle Within said casing, said receptacle having a closed top and an opening at its lower end, a vapor outlet from said casing, and a vent-tube leading from said receptacle to a point in proximity to said vapor outlet.

10. A vapor-b urner comprising a casing, a liquid fuel-receptacle Within said casing, said receptacle having a closed top and an opening at its lower end, a feed-tube communicating with said receptacle, and a vent-tube communicating With said feed-tube.

11. In a vapor-burner, the combination of a casing, a receptacle adapted to receive the liquid to be vaporized, said receptacle having a closed top, a quantity of asbestos in said casing located around and above said receptacle, a section of ire-gauze overly- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the seam casing located around and above said receptacle, a section of Wire-gauze overlying said asbestos, a cover-ring provided With a central opening above said Wire-gauze and providing a circular space for the flame, means comprising a series of blades for varying the size of such circular space, an actuating ring for actuating said blades, and an operating handle secured to said ring.

ADOLPH O. E. ERICHSEN.

Witnesses:

W. H. THURs'roN, J. H. THURSTON.

Commissioner 01 Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

